Gainesville native Doug Collins was selected to be President Donald Trump's Veterans Affairs Secretary and was confirmed in a 77-to-23 vote on February 4th.
In a call to AccessWDUN on Thursday, Collins spoke about his initiatives in the role.
“The confirmation was long, we had a lot of meetings,” Collins said. “We’ve already started making a lot of headway making sure our benefits and health programs are putting the veteran first.”
Collins said his biggest goals were to cut regulations across the department and elevate the quality of care for veterans. He is overseeing nearly $350-billion in the budget and roughly 200 medical centers and hospitals nationwide in the role.
“Instead of them having to go through a longer process, we’re moving them to the front,” Collins said. “We’re bringing people back into the office all across the department.”
Collins said he is putting a “personal touch” into what is the largest medical system in the country.
Out of Trump’s 18 confirmed nominations so far Collins was tied for the third most votes, indicating bipartisan support.
“We may not always agree and that’s fine,” Collins said. “My focus is the VA. I’m not in a political role anymore.”
Last week, Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) along with four other Democratic Senators in the Senate Committee on Appropriations sent a letter to Collins inquiring about the Department of Government Efficiencies (DOGE’s) access to VA facilities and records.
“We understand that personnel reporting to Mr. [Elon] Musk have recently visited VA facilities. Senators, veterans, and members of the public have serious concerns regarding Mr. Musk’s extraordinary and unprecedented activities and the lack of transparency surrounding them, including his potential access to and handling of sensitive or personal information,” the letter reads.
They asked to list personnel who report to Musk who have accessed VA data or visited VA facilities.
“I have VA employees who work for me who are our DOGE liaisons, and they’re looking at our contracts, they’re looking at better efficiencies,” Collins said.
Collins said that Democratic Presidents like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have talked about downsizing as well, but Trump is “actually doing it.”
Collins did add that no personal information is being shared and no veteran is having their information tampered with by “anybody outside that would do them harm.”
Collins closed saying transparency and a veteran-first approach are his priorities.
“We’re not always going to be perfect every time, but we’re … moving that way because there’s a leader at the top who, number one, who’s going to tell the truth,” Collins said. “We understand every day we have to earn the respect and earn the loyalty of the veterans themselves.”
Collins said for transparency, people can find him on X under the handle @SecVetAffairs.
